The PureBlood Princes
by linda.jenner
Summary: A Seer's vision of the end of Magic turns Lucius and Severus' beliefs around. Now they must save a child. Harry Potter.
1. Visions of the Future

The two blondes looked at each other, the witch calmly, the wizard with caution. He remembered exactly what his cousin was capable of with her wand.

"Pandora…" He stated slowly.

"Lucius." She replied.

"To what do I owe the… pleasure?" Lucius asked, carefully avoiding sneering. Sneering at Pandora could have lethal consequences.

"You are aware of Great Aunt Cassandra's gifts?"

"I am."

"Then you should be aware that they pass _**only**_ through the maternal line."

"Yes…"

"It seems that I have inherited a… variant of them." She did not seem pleased.

What could he say to that?

"My condolences." Seemed apt given Pandora's attitude.

"Indeed."

There was a pause, as both parties debated what to say next.

"I know of your… affiliations, Lucius."

"Do you?" She seemed very calm, Lucius wondered why.

"Yes."

"You do not seem concerned, Pandora." He commented.

"No."

"Why is that?"

"I would have you watch a memory… or rather, a series of memories."

"Why?"

"I have _**dreamt**_ something that alarmed my greatly. It concerns you, your affiliations, your family, your Lord, his enemies and the survival of magic, itself." She sneered as she said the word 'dreamt'.

"My…?" He paused again. "Very well, Pandora. Pensieve or pensieve projection?"

"Pensieve. I will be joining you, you must see the entire series or this will be for naught. I suggest asking Severus Snape or Alexander Gibbon to guard us during our immersion."

"Why them?"

"As you watch, it will become clearer."

"When do you wish this to happen?"

"Now, Lucius. I will not leave until you have entered the pensive and watched, in full."

"Very well. Wait here, please, cousin."

Lucius left his study and entered an odd room. It held a large fireplace that was elevated with a broad heath, a set of stairs leading down from the heath to a chair set immediately in front of the fireplace. A pinch of floo-powder was thrown into the flames.

"Severus Snape, Spinner's End." He said, speaking clearly.

A face appeared in the flames.

"Lucius? What do you want?"

"My cousin Pandora, is here. She wishes me to view a series of memories. I would have you guard us."

"Us?" Snape replied.

"Yes, she says she will join me."

"When?"

"Now. She will not leave until I have watched whatever it is she want me to watch."

Snape sighed.

"Today's password?"

"Apple sauce."

"E-excuse me?" Snape spluttered.

"Apple sauce."

"It seems, there is no accounting for taste." A fleeting twist of his lips and Snape's face disappeared from the fire.

A few seconds later a tall man, dressed in heavy black robes stepped out of the flames.

"Dramatic Severus, very dramatic."  
"They suit my current disposition, Lucius."

"They do." Lucius sighed.

"Shall we get this over with?" Severus was hard, almost unforgiving.

"Yes." He paused. "Severus? I am… sorry, for your… loss."

"As am I, Lucius, but that will not change what has occurred. Where is your pensieve?"

"In my study, this way." Lucius sighed and lead the younger man through a door and into a large room, well lit by tall windows.

A slim blonde woman sat on a wing-backed leather chair, her back rigidly straight.

"Pandora Lovegood. Severus Snape." Lucius' introduction lacked much in the way of courtesies.

"Mr Snape."

"Mrs Lovegood." Neither seemed very pleased at the need to be introduced.

"Shall we get on with this?" Lucius waved and a cupboard opened, another wave and a large shallow bowl floated out. It settled in the middle of the room, a single leg descending from it to touch the ground, forming a tripod for it to rest upon.

"Pandora?"

The witch stood, her back still rigidly straight. She did not so much walk across the room, as glide, she steps flowing seamlessly into motion. She slowly reached into her robes, causing Snape to tense, but her movements were so slow that he had ample time to retrieve his own wand and point it in her direction. The barest of pauses and her movement continued, her hand emerging, not with a wand, but with a very long thin phial.

Silvery-gold strands swirled through the phial, moving slowly, twisting, rising and falling. With the barest of nods from Lucius, Pandora unstoppered the phial and upended it over the pensieve. The strands poured out like a thick oozing syrup, falling into the pensieve and bleeding out to cover the surface.

Lucius reluctantly held out a hand and Pandora, just as reluctantly, placed hers in it. The two bent and their faces touched the liquid of the pensieve. Shadows changes and shapes formed around them.

A dark street with old Tudor buildings. A low wall and a gate. The pair watched at a tall being crossed in front of them, it's robes trailing on the ground, but bare feet could been seen as the being stepped from the road to the pavement in front of the gate. A wave of a skeletal hand and the gate opened. Voices were heard and screams came. A child cried. The inside of a room formed around them, a woman with dark red hair lay facedown on the floor in front of a child's cradle. A man in black enters, he staggers in shock, falls to the floor. He pulls the dead woman into his arms and sobs over her, as her child cries behind them. Piles of ashes lay where a body had once stood. The child, scarcely more than a baby sits in his cradle, his bleeding face screwed up as he cries for parents that will never again, come.

The scene changed again. A street sign. 'PRIVET DRIVE', black block letters on a white background. Dawn's light bathing a suburban nightmare. A plaque on brickwork, the number 4 painted white. The door opens and a thin woman goes to step out, only to come in contact with a fabric wrapped bundle. She bends, lifts the bundle, folds back a corner of the fabric. It is the child from the cradle. The woman's face screws up, not like the child's had, in distress, but in anger and disgust. She turns back into the house, closing the door behind her.

"This is the past. This is what _**has**_ happened. Now we will see what the future _**could**_ bring. But not one future, we will see many, based on decisions that can impact on those futures."

She waved her hand and Lucius watched as the woman from the house beats the child, a man, large and fat, pulled the child around by his arms, threw him in a boot cupboard. The child grew, small and skinny, but he still grew. He cleaned, cooked and washed. Another child, looking so much like the fat man that it was clear he was man's son, hit, kicked and bit the small child. The child ran, away from the man, away from the larger child, away from the woman. Yet every time he ran, when the sun rose, the child was back in that boot cupboard again.

A classroom, the child in the back row, he's been called on by the teacher, children laugh, the teacher laughs and the teacher's hair turns blue. Running. Being chased by the larger child, now a fat boy, and two other boys, the child screws up his face and suddenly he's gone, a look around and the child is on the roof of a building.

A dark building, glass panels separate people from animals, snakes, lizards and spiders. The two children, the woman and the fat man are standing in front of an enclosure of a large pale snake. The fat boy bangs on the glass, but the snake doesn't move, eventually the two adults and the fat boy wander off, the child talks to the snake and the snake responds, the fat boy returns, pushes the child away and leans on the glass. The glass vanishes and the fat boy falls into the enclosure. The child grins, only until the two adults look at him. The fat man grabs the child by the arm and yanks him around, snarling face just inches from the child's.

A pile of letters, one addressed to -

Mr H Potter.

The Cupboard under the Stairs.

4 PRIVET DRIVE.

Little Whinging.

SURREY.

Now the child bruised, his arm is deformed, the forearm lays with a bend in it. There is blood on the child's face, on his clothes. Clothes are many sizes too large.

Hogwarts. The sorting hat. It dithers, but finally places the child in Gryffindor. A red haired boy and a bushy haired girl running at his side. A mirror and a professor, the professor speaks to the child, grabs at the child, attempting to force the child to in front of the mirror. The professor scream and the child pushes his hands against the professor's face. The face cracks and burns, flaking like ash.

A snake, a book, a red haired girl and a ghost. The snake chases the child, a phoenix drops the sorting hat at the child's feet, the hilt of a sword emerging. The child grasps the sword and fights the snake. A fang slices deep into the child's crooked arm, the child pulls it out and stabs the book with it, the book bleeds ink and the ghost shatters into light. A bird of fire and the child is flying.

A fat woman, she looks like the fat man. She speaks, insults people, hateful words flow from her mouth. The child looks at her, there's hate and disgust on his face. The woman inflates, blows up like a children's balloon, she bobs about the room and floats out the door and into the sky. The child is pulling a trunk down a dark road, a large black dog creeps from bushes, it looks at the child. A strange bus, a dark room looking out over a market area and a train line. Dementors floating near Hogwarts. A full moon and a man shifts into a werewolf, it leaps at the three children and the man in black, the black dog leaps at the wolf. A man, ragged and dirty, smiles at the child and hugs him close. A hippogriff and rider take to the night skies above Hogwarts.

A large goblet filled with fire. Pieces of paper float out of it. Viktor Krumm. Fleur Delacour. Cedric Diggory. Harry Potter. A dragon, it's chasing the child, he's on a broom, they crash into a bridge, the dragon falls. A red and gold room, a golden egg screams. A lake, cold and dark, the redhead boy floating in the water, a rope tired to one foot. A maze, giant spiders, a sphinx. A cup, the child and a taller boy grab it together, it's a portkey. The child falls to the ground. A short man throws a killing curse at the taller boy, he falls to the ground dead, in front of the child. The child is tied to gravestone, a knife slices his arm, the same arm the snake's fang sliced. A cauldron melts in to flame and a man emerges from the flames. Two wands connect and a brilliant gold light bathes the child and the man. The child falls to the ground and points his wand at the cup, it flies to his hand and the child vanishes from the graveyard.

A woman in pink, she issues orders, sets decrees. Students approach the child, they ask to be taught, taught the things the pink woman won't let them learn. The man in black, a dark house, a dark room. Eyes meet and memories are entered. The man sees through the child's eyes and eventually the child will see through the man's, neither's memories are pleasant. Nightmares, dreams, visions. The child dreams of the only man to hug him, he is tortured and killed. The child tells the man in black, but nothing happens, the child can not see the man in black send patronuses, cannot see him make firecalls, cannot see him yell at an old wizard. Thestrals, a phone booth, five children jammed in. A hall, shelves filled with glass balls. The man from the cauldron is there, he wants something from the child. A fight breaks out. More people come, one of them the man who hugged the child. A witch throws a curse and the man falls through an archway, gone into blackness. The child screams in anger and sorrow. The fight goes on, more people arrive. The old wizard and the man from the cauldron duel.

The older wizard introduces the child to another wizard, old but not as old at the old wizard, he wants the child to get something from the other wizard. He shows the child memories. Memories about the man from the cauldron. He takes the child to a place on the coast, there's a rock, a cave, boat and a pool of liquid. They return to the school, but a blonde boy, almost a man, challenges the older wizard. An argument is had and others arrive, among them the witch that killed the man who hugged the child, the man in black climbs the stairs and after a small bit of begging from the old wizard, the man in black uses a killing curse and the old wizard fall from the tower. The child chases after the man, the two exchange curses and the man leaves. The child cries.

A wedding. The redhead boy in fancy dark grey suit, the bushy haired girl, her hair tamed and neat, in rich red dress and the child, he wears an equally fancy black suit. A patronus speaks of the ministry falling and guests disappear. The girl grabs the hands of the two boys and they too, vanish. A street full of muggles, a coffee shop and a wand fight. Then an old house, it's dark and dreary. A locket, silver with green stones in the shape of an S. The woman in pink again and the Ministry. A forest, bare of green, a tent almost empty. Walking, days of walking and hiding, an argument and the red haired boy leaves. A village, it the same village as when the child was in the cradle. Another graveyard, it's covered in snow. An old lady, a snake, it attacks the child, his wand is broken, but the girl grabs him and apparates away. A patronus walks through a moonlit wood, a frozen pond collapses, the red haired boy is back, he pulls the child and a sword from the pond, smashes the locket with the sword. They're running at dawn, then there's a manor and a dungeon. An elf and a beach. Gringotts and a dragon, flying, falling into water. Hogwarts again. A battle. The man in black is dying, he gives the child his memories. The child finds a pensieve and watches them, he cries for the man in black.

"Here it changes." Pandora said. "It can go two ways. The first we will see it the Light's triumph, then the Dark's."

The child enters a forest, he stands before the man from the cauldron. A curse is thrown at the child, who just stands there and lets it hit him. The child in a place of white, the old wizard, the one killed on the tower is there, they talk. The child opens his eyes, a woman lies for him. There's fight and more still more fighting, dozens of people fight, dozens of people die. The school is in ruins. But the child and the man from the cauldron fight. A sword cuts through a snake. But the man and child still fight. Their wands connect again, but the child knows something has changed, he knows he will win, the wand the man uses is not his own, it is aligned to the child. It rejects the man and flies from his hand. The child's hand reaches out and the wand falls into it. The man falls. He dies, his body dissolves into ashes that float on the breeze. He is dead. The child stands with the red haired boy and the girl, they watch as the child snaps the man's wand and throws the pieces away.

The Wizengamot meets, decisions are made, muggle ways, traditions are introduced, the Statute of Secrecy is let fall. Muggles begin to notice wizards and their magic, they accept wizards into their world. Slowly, so slowly that it's not noticed until it is too late to change the outcome, wizards discover that magic is fading, it is dispersing across the world, soon there is no such thing as a muggle, everyone is born with a magical core, but their cores are so small that they can do little deliberate magic. Hogwarts and Wizarding society is gone, magic is gone and all that is left are the no-longer-muggles.

"Now we shall see what the future would be if the Dark were to triumph at Hogwarts." Pandora's voice echoed hollowly.

The child enters a forest, he stands before the man from the cauldron. A curse is thrown at the child, who just stands there and lets it hit him. The child in a place of white, the old wizard, the one killed on the tower is there, they talk. The old wizard sighs, it's now down to others. The child has missed something that the old wizard had tried to tell him. The child is dead, his body is carried back to the castle and the fight goes on. The defenders are demoralized at the child' death. They still fight, but they have no heart anymore. One by one, the students join the attackers. The red haired boy is killed as is the girl. They are examples to the Light, of what it means to defy the Dark.

Muggleborns are killed. Halfbloods imprisoned. Muggles targeted as animals. But muggles begin to fight back. They don't care who's side you're one, if you're magical, they will kill you. Diagon Alley. A flash and crash and the alley is gone, hundreds of witches and wizards dead. Hogwarts is next. Settlement by settlement, they spread. Settlement by settlement, the muggles begin to exterminate the disease that is the Wizarding world. Less than 5 years after the battle at Hogwarts, there are no witches or wizards left to feel Lady Magic's gifts and magic fades from the world.

"Lady Magic is not happy. What can we do? What action will end with what result? Now we will watch what we can change and how those changes will effect our world." Pandora says.

"There is a way to stop this?" Lucius asked.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Watch and you shall see."

The child is locked in the boot cupboard while the woman, fat man and the fat boy, drive away in a muggle car. It is days later before they return. There is a police vehicle in front of the house. The two adults are arrested and the boy taken away. The man from the cauldron emerges from his cauldron and rules unopposed. Muggles revolt and Diagon Alley is destroyed. Hogwarts last only a few more days. Wizards are hunted and the witch-burnings begin again.

The family return from the zoo and the snake enclosure, the boy is beaten, he screams and screams . A neighbour capitulates and calls police. The fat man and the woman are arrested. The old wizard stands against the man from the cauldron, but his is no match. Muggles are hunted until they begin to fight back, they target the schools, the children of the Wizarding world. They fight with drugs and chemicals, muggles are vaccinated and are immune to the diseases they are spreading. It take 15 long painful years, but magic still dies.

A group of wizards hunt down the man from the cauldron's tokens. A book. A ring. A locket. A cup. A diadem. The child. The snake. For the Greater Good they are all destroyed, one by one. Even the child. Laws are passed and new rules come in, muggles are friends, they are integrated into Wizarding society, interbreeding becomes required by law. Children are born with weaker and weaker magic. Five generations and strong is the witch or wizard that can light a wand. Schools close, there are no students. Magic is too weak.

The child is taken in the night, by the man from the cauldron's people, he is raised as a son of one of the man's followers. The man rises to rule uncontested by any bar a few, a few lead by the old wizard. The fighting comes to the attention of the muggles, they have devices that can record images and send them all across the world in seconds. Magic is exposed and the witch-hunts begin. Wizard-folk are rounded up and held in small areas, children are taken from parents, muggles experiment on them to find what makes them magical. Once an answer is had, wizards are killed in huge numbers, injected with sleeping drugs and drowned. Less than 10 years after the child's parents are killed, the child dies in the arms of the man in black, the last two wizards left to suffer at the hands of the muggles.

The child is young. Bare weeks have passed since his parents were killed. He lies in the boot cupboard, his is arm broken, his cheeks are sunken, he is hungry, he is dying. It is dark, the middle of the night. There is movement in the hall outside the cupboard. The cupboard door opens, the child is too weak to react. A goblin gestures and the child floats out of the cupboard and into the hallway. The goblin removes something from its pocket. It wipes the something through the blood on the child's face and speaks. It chants quietly for at least a minute. The something changes, it swells and grows arms and legs. When the goblin stops chanting the something looks exactly like the child.

It has the same injuries, it has the same scars, it has the same hair it has the same eyes. The goblin gestures again and the something-that-is-now-the-child is wearing the same rags as the child. With more gestures the something-child is floated into the cupboard and the door closed behind it. The goblin reaches out a bony hand and closes that hand around the child's ankle and with a 'pop' the two vanish.

The scene changes. Gringotts, now. Lucius can see himself talking to the man in black, whom he knows to be Severus Snape. They sit with another man with skin the colour of toffee,, Alexander Gibbon, while the goblin healers work feverishly over the child. The men plot and plan. They must hide the child, no one but they must ever know the child lives. But they must also destroy the man from the cauldron's tokens. The old wizard fears that the man will return, he wants the child to fight for the light, but to also die at the proper moment. Lucius and Severus decide that these things cannot happen.

The child will live, they will see to it. They will change his life and theirs. They will see that magic survives.

The goblins chant and the child gets younger, loosing only weeks, but the watchers can see the difference. The child's forehead splits and a black oozing smoke bubbles out, it screams and hisses, noxious and Dark. More chanting and a potion, his face changes, the features soften like wax. Another potion is given and the child's face changes again. Another potion, another change. More chanting, more potions, more changes. Finally Severus Snape gives the child a potion and his faces changes, his features sharpening and his hair darkening. Snape carries the child as they leave Gringotts, wrapped safely in the man's arms. A dirty street, a dark house. Snape holds the child close and enters the house. Day dawns, the child makes no sound. Snape feeds the child and holds him in his arms, rocking him gently. Days pass, the child grows, Snape smiles at the child as he clings to the man's fingers. The child is crawling, scuttling around a room, his laughter driving the shadows away. The child walks now, waddling after Snape as they walk down a street. A card, 'Happy 5th Birthday' it reads, there's a cake and a training broom. Another card 'On Your 10th Birthday' and a picnic. A letter from Hogwarts.

Mr H Prince

2nd Bedroom.

1 SPINNER'S END.

COKEWORTH, MERSEYSIDE.

Hogwarts and the sorting hat, the child's tie becomes green and silver. A blonde boy, the one that challenged the old wizard, but his face is younger now, he sits beside the child and points at things. A great hall set with rows of desks, students sitting exams. Graduation, Snape smiles at the child, who's almost a man, now. Another wedding, no redheads to be seen, this time. Snape stands beside Gibbon, both smile. A baby, the child-now-a-man cuddles it close. A toddler runs through a park. Another Hogwarts letter.

Mr C Prince.

1st Bedroom on the Right

ONYX HOUSE.

BARRHILL, GIRVAN.

The child-now-a-man is older. He sits beside a bed as a very old Snape lays still, his hands bony and weak. Tears run down the now-a-man's face and he holds his wand up, letting the tip light with blue fire.

The now-a-man is old, he is the one laying in a bed, now, still and pale. At his side a man, younger, but with his features. It is this man that holds up a wand, letting blue fire light the room. Outside it is Halloween, witches and wizards walk the street of a magical village, pausing at a ruined house, one by one, they hold their wands up and call on Lady Magic to answer them. The night is filled with light as each wand-tip glows.

The pensieve goes dark and the two watchers are ejected.

Lucius staggers to a seat, his face as pale as milk. Pandora has tear-tracks on her face and she, too, staggers to a seat.

"I have watched that more than a dozen times, trying to convince myself that involving you was not necessary. It is no easier to watch now, than the first time I saw it." She whispered.

"S-Severus… you have to… you have to watch…" Lucius could say no more, he simply pointed at the pensieve.

Snape studied him closely for a few seconds, it was not like Lucius to reaction so strongly… to anything. He slowly approached the pensieve and with a glance at Lucius, who just hung his head in his hands. Snape lowered his head into the pensieve.

It took almost three hours before the pensieve released him. And like Lucius, he was pale and trembling.

"What have we done, Lucius?" He whispered.  
"We have followed a madman, Severus."

"Can we stop this?"

"We have to. For our children's sake, if nothing else."

"How? How do we do this?"

Pandora stood and pulled out her wand, she touched it to the surface of the pensive and removed the memories, replacing them back in the phial.

"These are yours, Lucius. I hope you make the right choices. For all our sakes." She left the phial on the desk beside the pensieve. "I shall see myself out, cousin." She curtsied to both men and headed for the room with the floo-fireplace.

"What do we do now?" Snape wondered.

"If we base our actions on that last section of Pandora's vision, we should got to Gringotts."

"Getting the goblins involved? Is that wise?"

"I don't think we have any other options, Severus. It's the goblins that created the replacement body, it was the goblins that removed Potter, it was the goblins that worked to save his life."


	2. Saving a Future

Lucius enters Gringotts quietly, still shaken by Pandora's vision. He approaches a tell and waits to be acknowledged.

"Wizard." The goblin says.

"Teller, I would speak with the Malfoy account manager." His voice is mostly steady, but there's enough of a tremble in it for the goblin to raise it's head quickly.

"You understand that no concealing charms will work beyond our foyers."

"I understand. I have nothing to hide and much to tell." The blonde man assured.

The goblin studied him.

"Rockjaw!" He snapped to the side.

A younger goblin jumped to it's feet and hurried over.

"Sir!" It stood at attention.

"Escort the wizard to an office. Call Clawblade and inform him that this wizard needs to speak to the Malfoy manager."

"Yessir!" The young goblin said.

"There will be another two wizards joining me soon, Severus Snape and Alexander Gibbon. They know to approach only you, would you have them brought to wherever I am?" Lucius asked the teller.

"Snape?"

"_**Severus**_ Snape and Alexander Gibbon." Lucius confirmed.

"Very well, wizard." The teller nodded and waved him away.

A small office, neat and tidy, but simple. Little money had been wasted here, everything in the office had a use. Lucius sat and waited, he attempted to make some sense of his thoughts, but by the time a neatly suited goblin appeared, he was no closer to resolving anything.

"Before anything can be discussed, you are required to submit to a identity test, wizard." The goblin warned.

"Good."

Lucius watched as the goblin laid out a dagger, piece of parchment and a small bowl.

"Ten drops of blood into the bowl." The goblin directed.

Lucius picked up the dagger.

"Would you prefer finger, palm or arm, Stonegut?" Giving the goblin the choice, Lucius tried to show that it made little difference to him.

"Arm." The goblin replied.

Lucius held the tip of the dagger to his arm and pressed it down, dragging it towards his wrist. Blood welled and he watched as the drops fell into the bowl. He lifted the dagger free and with his uninjured arm reached into his robes and withdrew a sealed bottle of dittany. He opened the bottle and allowed a few drops to fall on the wound, a handkerchief wiping away the residue.

The goblin ignored Lucius while it waited for the identity test to continue.

"Very good, Mr Malfoy. What can Gringotts assist you in today?" The goblin said after the completed test.

Lucius very carefully reached into his robes and retrieved the phial of memories that Pandora had left him, placing it carefully on the desk.

"I need you and the Director to watch these memories." He said.

"Me… _**and**_ the Director?" Stonegut raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Those memories were given to me be a Seer… of sorts. She-"

"A prophecy?" The goblin was startled.

"No. A vision. It concerns the very end of Magic itself."

"The end of _**Magic**_?" Stonegut gasped.

"Yes. The Seer watched it more than a dozen times, she said, trying to decide if she could avoid bringing it to me."

"Obviously, she has."

"Yes, she did. She also said that watching it for the fourteenth time was no easier than for the first time."

The goblin's eyes widened.

"Is it that bad?" He asked.

"Yes." Lucius sighed, he bared his left arm, the Darkmark black an putrid on his arm. "You know what this means?" The goblin at his question. "That…" he nodded at the phial, "changed everything. I swear by my magic and my life that I will do what I can do to see that Lady Magic is not lost."

"He is dead." Stonegut reminded him.

"Not according to those." Lucius again nodded at the phial.

"You would leave his service?"

"If the alternative is the end of Magic…? Yes… In a _**heartbeat**_!" The wizard stated forcefully.

The goblin looked at the wizard, studying the man closely, thinking about what he knew of the man's reputation, his business dealings and his personal life. Finally the goblin nodded.

"How long does it take to watch, from start to finish?"

"Ten minutes less than three hours." The goblin's eyes widened, again. That was not a simple vision. "Wait here." The goblin rose to his feet and left the room.

Ten minutes later, he returned with another goblin. Slightly taller, with a vicious looking scar running from above his left eyebrow, down across the eye, across the nose, through the cheek and splitting it's ear in two.

"Director, this is Mr Lucius Malfoy. Mr Malfoy, this is Knifesplitter, the Director of Gringotts of London." Stonegut bowed formally to the director.

"Mr Malfoy." Knifesplitter dipped his head.

Lucius rose to his feet and bowed, just as formally as Stonegut had done.

"Director Knifesplitter."

"Mr Malfoy, Stonegut has told me that you have a Seer's visions as pensieve memories? And that you would have me view them?"

"That is correct, director."

A tapping at the office's door halted the discussion.

"My apologies, sir." Young Rockjaw bowed. "There are two wizards, here, that say that Mr Malfoy has requested their presence."

"That would Severus Snape and Alexander Gibbon." Lucius said. "Severus has already seen the visions, but Alexander has not yet. It is likely that, until he has, he will not quite understand what we hope to achieve and why." Lucius explained.

"Very well… Rockjaw bring them in." Knifesplitter ordered.

A few moments later, Severus entered the office in front of a man perhaps 15 years older than he. The man's toffee coloured skin spoke of a Mediterranean or African heritage. He spotted Knifesplitter and his eyes widened for a second, before he regained control.

"Director Knifesplitter, may I present Mr Severus Snape, a gifted young potioneer, well on his way to a Mastery. And Mr Alexander Gibbon, Herbology and Potions Master."

"Gentlemen."

Both men bowed to Knifesplitter, Severus more deeply than Gibbon.

"I would request that we view these memories at the same time that you do. I… do not know what I can tell you to make you enter the pensieve… other than… If we don't act, Magic _**will**_ die." Lucius was almost ready to beg.

"I understand, Mr Malfoy. I will have Rockjaw and Orebiter, guard us. Shall we?"

"Lucius? Must I?" Severus asked.

"I think… both you and I will be needed to restrain our fellow watchers, Severus." Lucius advised.

"Hmm… I had not thought of that." Severus nodded and stepped up to the pensieve. "May I?" His hand hovered over the phial without touching.

"Please, Mr Snape." Knifesplitter nodded.

Severus lifted the stopper free of the phial and holding the phial by it's base, allowed it to tilt and spill it's precious liquid onto the pensieve's surface. The three wizards and two goblins stepped up and dipped their faces into that liquid.

Three hours later, there were two howlingly mad goblins, ready to wreak havoc.

"Director?" Lucius let his voice show his distress.

It was enough to bring both goblins to a standstill.

"Mr Malfoy?"

"Do you understand, now, why I brought this to Gringotts?"

"That last… section?"

"That last section. It is the only hope for magic."

"And for the boy." Knifesplitter added.

"And for the boy." Lucius repeated.

"Rockjaw? Orebiter?" Knifesplitter waited until both young goblins were facing him. "Wait outside, full privacy, _**no**_ exceptions." Both goblins blinked, bowed and left. "Now there are just the five of us. Who else knows what these visions contain?"

"Outside those of us in this room… only the Seer herself. Her words to me were? 'These are yours, Lucius. I hope you make the right choices. For all our sakes.' And then she left." Lucius replied.

"Then we have a chance. I would have this under an Unbreakable Vow of Secrecy, gentlemen." Knifesplitter began.

"I… would have slightly different suggestion." Severus put forward.

"In what way, Mr Snape?"

"This will be in parts. Yes? The boy. And the Horcruxes?" the other four nodded, Gibbon had yet to say a word. "I would suggest that that we use two separate Vows, one for the child and a second for the Horcruxes. Let us see to the child first. We know that he is an inadvertent Horcruxe, that would have to be removed. We must retrieve the child and see to the processes that the vision contained. I then suggest that I be removed from the equation. I would be the primary caregiver for the child. If I understand what I saw, I will become the child's father. A child that will be de-aged, he will need my complete attention. Plus we know that at some point it is I that will have the joyous task of explaining the boy's existence to Dumbledore. He is a Master Occlumens and Legiliemens. I cannot know anything that you plan for the Horcruxes and it would be wise to remove what little knowledge I already possess."

Lucius stared at Severus, he hadn't given Dumbledore much consideration.

"He right, Luc. We can't let the old meddler know. Sev will have to loose what he knows." Alexander Gibbon spoke for the first time.

"But… I also suggest that we wait until the Horcruxe is removed from the boy." Severus added.

"Also, gentlemen. The Aurors are hunting for Death-Eaters and the three of you have a clear link on your arms." Knifesplitter entered the conversation. "Right now, Voldemort has no body, he is at his weakest. I would recommend having my Curse-breakers step in and cut that link, remove his taint from your skin."

The three men gaped at him.

"You… you can… you can do that?" Severus spluttered.

"Of course."

"He set them in parseltongue." Lucius reminded the goblin.

"Ah… in that case, I will have to get in a Curse-breaker in from Burma, Bangladesh or India. But as you say, Mr Snape, let us see to the child, first."

"Please."

"From what I noted in the vision, there were four genetic processes used. An Ancestral-Line Purge, a Ancestral-Line Adoption, a Ancestral Repudiation and a Blood Adoption." Knifesplitter stated, turning to Stonegut.

"Yes, that's what I noted too, sir. In that order. But the first thing is the retrieval of the child and the setting of the golem."

"Correct, Stonegut. But… what to tie the golem to?"

"I don't understand, Director. Wasn't the golem to be tied to his magic?" Severus asked.

"It was, but which magic to tie it to? His Maternal magic, his Paternal magic or his Inherent magic?"

"Maternal? Paternal? I think I understand those, but Inherent?" Severus asked.

"Uh… Maternal magic is the types of magics that we get from our mothers. Paternal from our fathers, of course. And Inherent are the magic traits that Lady Magic sees fit to give us, they are what shape our core and give it structure. The Maternal and Paternal magics are what fill all the little gaps and pockets within our core." The older wizard lectured.

"Ah… thank you, Xander." Severus sighed and nodded his thanks.

"Nah worries." The Scotsman replied.

"Let's worry about that after we have the child here, yes? The vision shows him being severely injured. We should focus on that first." Stonegut put forward. "Once we have him and the healers are working on him, we can decide a course of action."

"No. He will be my son. Blood Adopting him will instigate a parental attachment, within me, he will become my son, much as if he were my natural child. I have done nothing but think on this since I first emerged from the pensieve in Malfoy Manor." Severus cut in. "I want him safe. Safe from Death-Eaters, he is the child that vanquished the Dark Lord. But I also want him safe from Dumbledore, I know personally how manipulative the old man can be and how vicious Petunia can be."

"What are your thoughts on the matter, Severus?" Lucius asked.

"I think… I think we need to create a new history, a damaged history, for him. My thoughts are to make him a child of Death-Eaters, someone that even Dumbledore would approve of removing a child from."

"Bella. Bella and Rodolphus." Xander offered.

"Bella, yes, but not Rodolphus. Otherwise there would be no way the child would be abused." Lucius said, beginning slowly before gaining confidence. "Rodolphus doted on Bella. But if the child weren't his…?"

"Rodolphus wouldn't be happy, but that's still not cause for him to attack a child." Xander replied.

"But if it was _**Rabastan's **_child?" Lucius suggested.

"Rodolphus wouldn't hesitate to take it out on the child." Severus grimaced. "Their rivalry for Bella's affections would be enough for him snap. Not that either man really had a chance, Bella only had eyes for Voldemort, she married who she was told to marry."

"As both of them are now in Azkaban? With little hope of release? Not to mention that all three of them are more than a little unstable." Xander nodded. "That would work."

"It would indeed." Knifesplitter agreed.

"Severus and I can say that we went to their house to destroy any truly dark items, they might have had and found the child." Lucius said.

"…locked in a cupboard. Much as he is, right now." Severus added.

"Are we agreed then?" Stonegut asked. "First we retrieve the child. Heal him and remove the Horcruxe. A Maternal-Line Ancestral Purge, remove the maternal line of Evans. A Paternal Ancestral Purge, remove the paternal line of Potter. A Maternal Ancestral Adoption, add the maternal line of Black. A Paternal Ancestral Adoption, add the paternal line of Lestrange. A Blood Adoption, adding the lines of Snape and Prince."

"Wait…? The vision…? Didn't it have the child getting younger?" Xander asked.

Stonegut's eyes widened.

"It did, but that would…?" He turned to Knifesplitter. "Taking him back, regressing his age, back before he became a Horcruxe…? Wouldn't that…?"

"Reverse all the injuries and eject the Horcruxe? Yes, yes it would." Knifesplitter replied.

"That would make healing him considerably easier."

"And hiding him, too." Severus added. "If we were to take him back to the point that he is younger than Harry Potter is known to be, how will that register on identity tests?"

"If we, Gringotts that is, were to use a permanent age-setting potion, our Identity test will register the physical age. If Harry Potter were to be born on the 31st July and Gringotts provided the potions used to rearrange his age, then once we are happy with where his age is in relation to where it was? Another potion is used to set the changes. From that point on, aging or de-aging potions will only be temporary, they will wear off after 240 hours, ten days." Stonegut informed them.

"Hmm…" Lucius hummed. "How far, Severus? How much younger do you want him to be?"

"Remembering, that you will be his father, you will have to care for him. I'd suggest as close as possible, but still keeping a little distance." Xander put in.

"I know." Severus sighed. "I… I think… permanently? Only a couple of weeks. If he new birthday could be… somewhere around the 20th-25th of August, the same year? I think that would work."

"We would need to regress his age to… say 14 months?" Stonegut offered. "Then once the Horcruxe is gone and the injuries healed, we then increase his age to the preferred age."

"It's been six weeks since… he… acquired the Horcruxe." Knifesplitter clarified. "So we regress his age by… ten weeks? Once the Horcruxe is gone, we add seven weeks to his age instead of ten, making him three weeks younger than he currently is. Are we to do the re-aging before or after the purges and adoptions?"

Lucius and Severus exchanged speaking looks.

"Regress him. Purge both maternal and paternal lines. Re-age him. Add maternal and paternal lines. Blood adoption. Remove maternal and paternal lines. Boost blood adoption. Remove or block my memories of the Horcruxes. Check him for blocks, charms, compulsions and curses. He and I leave and it's then up to you, Lucius and you, Xander, to deal with Voldemort." Severus stated bluntly.

Lucius, Xander and Knifesplitter all hummed or frowned in thought.

"I might suggest making one change to that order. Regress him. Then remove memories from you. You will still know that it is vitally important to protect the child, but your thoughts will be more along the lines of Death-Eaters and abuse, not Horcruxes." Stonegut suggested.

More exchanged glances, some nods and they were in agreement.

"Regress him. Check him for blocks, charms, compulsions and curses, but do not remove any that Rodolphus would have placed. Remove or block my memories. Purge both maternal and paternal lines. Re-age him. Add maternal and paternal lines. Blood adoption. Remove maternal and paternal lines. Remove any blocks, charms, compulsions and curses still left. Boost blood adoption and remove my Darkmark. He and I leave and that will be the end of my involvement?" Severus asked.

"Yes, that had slipped my mind for the moment. I think that will work well." Knifesplitter nodded. "Stonegut? See to a golem blank. You will be to doing the retrieval, tie the golem to the child's Paternal Magic, that will give us, at the least, 48 hours before the golem uses all the latent magic from the initial magical transfer, at that point the body with 'die'. After this is complete, before you and the child leave, Mr Snape, I would like one of our healers to assess the child."

"I'm not certain…" Severus began.

"No, if we are to keep to the cover story, that would be a necessary thing to do." Lucius said.

Severus frowned, but nodded slowly.

"Yes…" He said slowly. "It would."

"Director? If I may? I would suggest my wife? She has the same clearances that I do." Stonegut said.

"Yes, we would need her for the Purging and Adoptions, anyway. Good see to it, Stonegut." Knifesplitter ordered. "I'll bring these gentlemen to the appropriate room and call for a curse-breaker to meet us there."

There was a small shuffle of activity as the three wizards rose and sorted themselves out, in order of importance and ranking. Lucius might be the highest, politically, ranked of the three, but the child's situation made Severus the highest as far as medical and social importance was concerned. A child's needs overruled politics every day of the week. As they followed the director, Xander threw out a comment that gave Severus, yet another thing to think about.

"Sev, would your grandfather consider taking you back into the family if you were to do a Snape Paternal-Line Ancestry Purge? The Hogwarts letters _**were**_ addressed to 'Prince'."

"Later, Xander. Let me worry about that later."

"Take the child to your grandfather, tell him the truth and what we plan to tell Dumbledore. See what he says. You have nothing to loose and a lot to gain. The protection of the Prince name, would go a long way, Sev." Severus' mentor continued.

"It would. But right now? Let me concentrate on one thing at a time. Please?" Severus didn't mean to sound pleading, but that's how it came out, anyway.

"As long as you think about it." Xander agreed.

"I will, just not tonight."

"Not tonight."

Entering a goblin ritual chamber was not something many wizards got the chance to do, so all three wizards were looking around, filing things away in their memory for later. A large round room, with a central dais of about a foot high and roughly six foot across, row after row of shaped tiles spread out from the dais. Between each row of tiles was a strip of some type of clear material, maybe crystal, maybe glass, maybe diamond, the wizards didn't know and weren't about to insult the director by asking.

The three wizards were pointed to a bench seats that sat at different points around the room. All three men opted to sit near the door, they had no idea how this would differ from what they were shown in the vision.

"We are ready?" Knifesplitter asked the room in general.

"We are." The men all answered.

"Then we shall begin, as soon as Stonegut arrives with the child."

The four waited, patiently. A knock at the door and a female goblin came in.

"Stonegut said I would likely be needed and that this… situation, is of the highest clearance?" The statement was a question, or at least that is how it emerged.

"Yes. Only Stonegut and those of us in this room will ever know of this." Knifesplitter informed the female.

She looked over at the three wizards.

"And them?"

"They are the ones that brought this to my attention, they know as much as I do. And far more than you _**ever**_ shall, Healer Ammolite." The director chided.

The she-goblin ducked her head in apology to the director as a second knock came.

"Director Knifesplitter? I am Clawfist. I was told you need a Curse-breaker that understood parseltongue, sir." A wizened but very tall, for a goblin, figure bowed and entered the room.

"Yes, Clawfist, I do. Please sit and wait. Things must be done in a very precise order, if we are to achieve a successful outcome."

"Sir." The goblin nodded and sat on the opposite side of the door to the three wizards.

Nearly a minute passed before there was a 'pop' of sound and the push of displaced air. Stonegut appeared, his fingers wrapped securely around the ankle of a small child. The child's eyes were open and tears seeped from his eyes. Fear was written all across his face.

Severus stepped forward.

"Hush, sweet child, hush. No here will harm you."

The child's head turned and he saw Severus, his eyes screwed up a little and his face cleared and joy lit it.

"Tev'rus!" He cried, his hands reaching towards the man, fingers opening and closing.

Severus gaped. How in the name of Merlin had the child known who he was?

"Tev'rus?" The child's face began to fall, his bottom lip trembling.

"Hush, now. I'm here, I'm here. Hush, little one." Severus crooned.

"Ouchy, Tev'rus, I's ouchy."

"I know. Let the goblins work and they'll take the pain away, sweet boy." Severus knelt near the tiny boy's head and let his finger be clasped by what _**should**_ have been a pudgy hand.

Stonegut eased forward after shaking his head at his wife, he offered Severus a small phial of potion.

"The de-aging potion." Was all he said.

"Can we not give him a pain suppressant?" Severus asked.

"No, not if the de-aging potion is to be precise, other potions can destabilise the mix."

"Ah, thank you." Severus turned to the boy, Harry. "Harry, sweet boy? This will make the ouches go away, but it will hurt more, first. Just for a few moments."

"Ouchies?"

"More ouchies, _**then**_ no more ouchies." Severus corrected, trying to speak so Harry would understand.

"Ouchies." Harry nodded, opening his mouth for the potion.

Severus gently tipped the glowing purply-blue potion into the waiting mouth.

"You need to swallow it all, Harry." Severus said.

The little throat worked again and again, until the potion was gone, then Harry opened his mouth to show it was empty.

"Good boy." Severus smile.

The boy's eyes widened and then closed, screwing shut tightly. The pain twisted through his little body, bruises bled into being and faded quickly. His arm slowly bent, then snapped straight. Cuts slowly appeared and the disappeared in an instant. Then a flash of green light and the cut on the boy's forehead opened. Sickly black smoke oozed and bubbled from the cut, it rose in a plume and faded within seconds. Now the little face softened and Harry turned to rest peacefully on his side as he floated in mid-air.

"The potion will keep him unconscious for approximately fifteen minutes." Stonegut said as he and Knifesplitter stepped forward.

"Now your memories, Severus. Are you sure?" Lucius asked.

"Yes. I'd be no help, anyway. I had never heard the term until I entered the pensieve. And keeping Dumbledore out of it? Yes, Lucius, it's worth it." Severus assured the blonde wizard.

"Very well. Turn and look into my eyes, Severus Snape." Knifesplitter stated.

Severus turned from Harry to face the goblin, forcing his eyes to meet the goblins.

"_Memoriae."_ A pause. _"Horcruxe."_ Another pause. _"Recensere."_ Another pause. _"Delens." _Knifesplitter's voice echoed like he was in a great cavern. _"Por salute. Quia nec quaerere."_

Severus felt a wave of nausea flood him and his mind went unbalanced, when the dizziness passed, he knew that something had happened, but what he didn't know and for some reason, he knew that to go looking for it, was to endanger himself and the child that would be his.

"Now for the child." Knifesplitter said. "Clawfist? I want a list of the all blocks, charm, compulsions and curses on the boy."

"Certainly Director Knifesplitter." The foreign goblin came forward and began his own chants. "I shall need three drops of his blood, onto this crystal." The goblin gestured with a crystal in his hand. Severus pulled out his wand, and opened a small cut on a tiny foot and let the goblin touch the crystal to the cut, he then tapped the cut with his wand and sealed it.

"There's a core binding and a core-leech, but nothing else." The goblin assured them.

"Leave them for the moment. Once the Ancestral Purges are done, we'll get you to break both of them." Severus advised.

"As you wish."

"The Purging of his Maternal Ancestries and Magics." Knifesplitter stated.

The two goblin stood one on each side of the boy, they each took a few deep breaths and began to chant. Stonegut handed Severus a phial of grassy-green liquid, without pausing in his chants as he watched the boy instinctively swallow the liquid trickled into his mouth. A minute and the three wizards saw the boy's face change, blackness bled out of his hair and his skin lost that warm golden glow that came from James Potter. They paused for a few moments, sipping at water that Healer Ammolite pushed into their hands.

"The Purging of the Paternal Ancestries and Magics."

Another phial of the green liquid and Severus watched as the red hair that had graced Lily Evans, left her son along with all that she had given him.

"Clawfist? Remove the core-leech first. Then the binding." Knifesplitter suggested.

"Yes, Director." The goblin reached out and laid his hands on Harry's little feet and began his chanting. A flash of light and a ripple in the air told them the leach was gone. Clawfist kept chanting, another burst of golden light that seeped from Harry's very skin that faded slowly.

A few minutes pause.

"Now… time to set his age. Severus? This potion will increase his age by seven of the ten weeks, that we just removed from him, it includes the setting agent."

Stonegut offered a phial of liquid the colour of sunshine and watched as Severus dribbled it into little Harry's mouth and the small throat worked to swallow it. Slowly the changes began, the flatness of his face became a little plumper, the arms and legs lengthened slightly, but there was little difference, really.

"Time for the Ancestral-Line Adoptions. First the Maternal Line then the Paternal Line." Knifesplitter looked to Stonegut, who just nodded. The two began another round of chants, with the healer handed Severus a phial of deep, rich magenta. He trickled it into the small mouth, exactly as he had done earlier. Within seconds, the healer was handing him a second phial and gesturing at Harry, he shrugged and did it again.

There was a pause, for a few minutes, while those gathered watched the boy's features change. The deep black of the Black Family's hair was slightly muted by the mousey brown of the Lestrange hair, the wave obviously from Bellatrix, as Rabastan's hair was as straight as an arrow.

"Here, we need someone to represent the parents. To progress with a Blood Adoption, we need someone to provide permission, someone that would have a legal right to who the child is now."

"That would be me, then." Lucius said.

"How do you figure that, Mr Malfoy.

"We've just added a maternal lineage. Correct?"

"Correct, Bellatrix Lestrange's."

"Precisely. Bellatrix Lestrange is my wife's sister. And I am the only Head of House within three degrees of separation, that is not dead or incarcerated."

There was a predatory smile on the faces of two goblins.

"So you are, Mr Malfoy, so you are. Very well. Do go give permission for one Severus Snape to Blood Adopt this child?"

"I do, Director." Lucius stated clearly.

"Thank you, Lucius." Severus threw a quick smile at his friend.

A familiar phial of deep blue liquid has held out, minus it's stopper. Severus used his wand to slice a finger and let seven fat drops of blood fall into the phial. Lucius replaced the stopper and gave the phial a few good shakes. Just like it should have, the liquid in the phial gradually turned a pale metallic pink. Lucius handed the phial to Severus who, yet again, trickled it into Harry's mouth.

It took minutes, but eventually more changes happened. His hair went darker, more a deep chocolate with black highlights and his skin blushed with the palest of pale golds.

"Now, Mr Malfoy? As the closest Head of a House to the boy's Paternal line, we require that someone order the Ancestral Repudiations, both Paternal _**and**_ Maternal Repudiations."

"Do it, both of them." Lucius ordered.

More chanting and a phial of pale green was poured into the boy's mouth and watched the wavy hair become stronger and go black, as the Lestrange magics left him. Then Ammolite handed a second phial that caused the wave faded, his hair straightening and falling away from his face, as the Black Family magics faded.

"Lastly, we have a booster for the Blood Adoption." Ammolite said, holding out a second phial of the dark blue potion he'd added his own blood to earlier. Like he had then, he used his wand to slice a finger and allowed blood, three drops this time, to fall into it, before it was shaken and tipped into the waiting mouth.

"Now we wait for him to wake. Clawfist? Would you check him again?" Knifesplitter asked, he gestured for Stonegut to lower the boy to the dais' surface.

The goblin stood and laid a hand on Harry's forehead, as he rested with his back pressed against Severus' leg.

"Nothing." He said.

"Good. While we wait, would you be so kind as to remove the curse-mark on Mr Snape's, Mr Malfoy's and Mr Gibbon's left arms, please? Ammolite, check the child. We will need a formal assessment." Knifesplitter added.

"Sir? I suggest a set of identity tests, first. That way the assessment will match up with an already identified being. We can attach the assessment to our records, just in case they are needed in the future." Stonegut advised.

"Yes… that would be more advisable. Please see to it and have someone escort Mr Malfoy and Mr Gibbon back to my office." Knifesplitter nodded to the three wizards and left the chamber, Stonegut on his heels.

"Mr Snape, Mr Malfoy, Mr Gibbon? Who is to be first?" Clawfist asked.

"Severus, please. That way, once the identity tests, medical assessment on the boy are done, he'll be free to leave." Lucius decided.

"As you please." Clawfist crossed to stand in front of Severus. "Show me what I am to remove."

Severus hesitated for a heartbeat, but if the goblin could remove it? He would take the chance. He gave a sharp tug and his left sleeve slid upwards, exposing a pale arm with it's slightly faded mark.

"Ah… this is not so bad. I had thought it worse. You'll need to take the jacket off, though. I need complete access to the arm, not restricted by clothing." Clawfist said.

Severus said nothing, just undid the row of small buttons holding his frock coat closed and slipped it from his shoulders, leaving him in a high-collared white dress-shirt.

"Right, then, I can't be certain this is going to be painless, but if it does hurt, it shouldn't be too bad." The goblin took hold of Severus' arm and drew in a deep breath. He paused and spoke again. "Once I start… don't interrupt while I'm speaking parseltongue. It can cause fluctuations in your system. It's fine for the others to speak, but not you, you can nod, shake your head, react, whatever. But don't speak. Understand?"

Severus nodded, prepared to stay silent for as long as the goblin needed him to.

A few moments later the goblin took hold of his arm and began to speak in that hissing sound that was parseltongue. As he did, licks of fire touched Severus' arm, not bad, but not pain-free either. Certainly not so bad that he couldn't ignore it. He used his right arm and pulled his jacket close again, reaching into a pocket and retrieving a shrunken paper wrapped bundle. He dropped the bundle on the floor beside his hip and gestured for Lucius to un-shrink it. Once that was done, the parcel was still quite small and Severus found it difficult to manipulate.

"Would you like me to open it, Severus?" Lucius smirked.

Severus gave him a flat stare and nodded. Lucius opened the parcel and Severus pointed out a selection of items. One by one they were placed on Severus' lap. Baby clothes.

Who would ever have thought that Severus Snape would have baby clothes in his lap?

A yawning, snuffling sound came from Severus' right, Harry was waking. His eyes opened and he looked around the room with curiosity. Finally he saw Severus, a squeal and he was rolling around and clambering up Severus' body.

"Papa!" He cried.

When Severus smiled, but said nothing, the little boy's face froze.

"Papa?"

"Easy little, your Papa can't speak until the goblin is finished fixing his arm." Xander explained.

"Papa?"

Severus smiled and nodded, the pain in his arm growing, still not unbearable, but he was glad that Clawfist had warned him not to speak, at this point, he would have found it difficult to keep the pain from sounding in his voice.

"Papa…" The boy lay his head on Severus' shoulder and began to hum, funnily enough, that humming made it easier to tolerate the pain the goblin was creating.

When Stonegut returned with the parchments and inks for the identity test, it was Xander who told Harry what was needed.

"Papa?" Harry's little voice was scared.

Severus tried to comfort and encourage the little boy. He smiled and nodded, holding out his hand, a little hand trembled as it lay engulfed in his. He nodded to Lucius, who held out his wand, making the tip sharp.

"Little master needs to put three drops of blood in each of these bottles." Stonegut said.

"Papa?" Harry's lip and chin quivered.

Clawfist stood, letting go of Severus' arm.

"Done." He said. "I'll need a few minutes before I do the next one."

"Thank you, Master Curse-breaker." Severus bowed his head to the goblin.

"Papa!" Harry's smile was brilliant.

"Hello, my little one."

"Papa?" He pointed at Lucius and then to the ink. "Me?"

"Yes, my brave little one. We must make a little cut on you finger, then put three drops into each bottle. Will you do that for me?" Severus held his wand in right hand and slid his, now bare, left arm around the little boy.

"Es Papa." The boy nodded.

Severus' smile grew and he carefully held out his wand and pressed Harry's, still not quite chubby, finger against it. Blood welled and Harry looked at it in fascination as it dropped into the small bottles of ink.

Stonegut replaced the stoppers and shook each bottle, before pouring it onto a piece of parchment. The ink ran across each page, leaving words in it's paths.

The first, the standard Identity Test, read –

_**Hadrian Ridley Snape. (21**__**st**__** August 1980)**_ (Blood Adoption – 11 December 1981)

_**Mother**_ – Repudiated - Bellatrix Rose Black (3rd June 1951 – )

_**Father**_ – Repudiated - Rabastan Webster Lestrange (28th March 1964 – )

_**Father**_ – Adopted - Severus Colbert Snape (9th January 1960 – )

The second, the Inheritance test, showed little more.

_**Hadrian Ridley Snape. (21**__**st**__** August 1980)**_ (Blood Adoption – 11 December 1981)

_**Mother**_ – Repudiated - Bellatrix Rose Black (3rd June 1951 – )

_**Father**_ – Repudiated - Rabastan Webster Lestrange (28th March 1964 – )

_**Father**_ – Adopted - Severus Colbert Snape (9th January 1960 – )

_**Titles**_ – nil.

_**Vaults**_ – 1023, 1149 and 1396.

Charms – nil

Bindings – nil

Compulsions – nil

Curses – nil

"Well that's certainly keeping it simple. Isn't it?" Lucius had assumed there would be a lot more.

"Indeed. I had expected…" Severus began, but trailed off.

"Initially, so had I." Stonegut said. "But it makes sense in a way. Many people left things to Harry Potter, not to Hadrian Snape.'

"So what happens if someone changes their name to Harry Potter?" Xander asked.

"Nothing. They're not Harry Potter, the son of James and Lily Potter."

"No, I suppose they're not. So, what happens to what's been left to Harry Potter?" Lucius asked.

"Well, once we have proof of Harry Potter's death, his parent's Wills are automatically processed with the clauses of what is to happen in the event of his death."

"Which are?" Lucius wanted to know.

"I have no idea. Until the Will's additional clauses become active, there's no way of telling." Stonegut shrugged.

"Well, I don't think it really matters tonight. Severus? Why don't you get Healer Ammolite to check young Hadrian over and then take him home? I'm sure he's hungry."

"Papa? 'Ung'y, me's 'ung'y." The newly named Hadrian patted Severus' cheek to get his attention.

"Just a few more minutes, my little Hadrian." Severus rubbed a little back easing Hadrian back against him. "Healer?" He turned to Ammolite, raised an eyebrow and looked down at Hadrian.

"Certainly, Mr Snape." The healer ran her crystal rod over the little boy's body and tapped it to a piece of slate. "Nothing, but hunger, Mr Snape. Magic has done some major to his body. He had some… significant damage when he arrived, but is now in excellent shape. The damage to his eyes, that caused him to had to squint to identify you earlier has been corrected. As has the malnutrition it was obvious he was suffering from. All in all, he's in fine shape. Just hungry, like he said. You can expect that to be the case for the next week or two, it will taper off over the course of a few days."

"That's it?" Severus was expecting a list of ailments.

"That's it. Lady Magic likes your son and repaired whatever she could. I suggest taking him home and feeding him, before he runs out of energy."

"Thank you Healer Ammolite. I shall do just that." Severus rose to he feet and gave a shallow bow the healer.

"Lucius, Xander? Drop in and see me in a few days, I should have a handle on Hadrian by then."

"I shall." Lucius nodded.

"Same here, but I expect you to be able to tell me what your grandfather had to say." Xander warned.

"Yes, Xander. I'll send him an owl after Hadrian's asleep." Severus sighed.

_Memoriae_ = memory

_Recensere_ = edit

_Delens_ = delete

_Por salute. Quia nec quaerere_ = For safety. Do not ask.


	3. Living for the Future

Severus studied the letter he had written.

_Mr Colbert Prince,_

_I would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you and discuss the future of the House of Prince. To that end, I have included with this message a single-use portkey to my home, the activation key is mother's full maiden name._

_Sincerely_

_Severus Colbert Snape_

It was short, but he had no idea what else to tell his grandfather. There was much he _**wanted**_ to tell him, but none of it could be put on parchment, he only hoped that Colbert Prince would give him a chance to explain. He sealed the note and the portkey, one of his Slytherin school ties, in the envelope and sighed.

He had no owl, he would have to go to a public postal service to send it. Blast. Good thing the postal service was open day and night, as it was well after midnight. It was also a good chance to fix Severus in the public eye as having a child before Dumbledore knew of Harry Potter's (fake) death and no one would be insulted if Severus had his sleeves pushed up, while holding a child.

Add an owl thing to the, rapidly, growing list of things that he needed if he was to care for his son properly.

Up in Hadrian's room, he transfigured a pair of socks into warm pyjamas for Hadrian and a towel into a fluffy green and blue blanket. He lifted the tiny body and stripped it of the baby-clothes that he'd dressed Hadrian in, before they'd left Gringotts. A change of nappy, which Severus was glad he'd learned how to do for Lucius' son, and he redressed Hadrian in the soft green pyjamas that had fluffy yellow ducklings waddling across them. Wrapping Hadrian in the blanket and making his way back down the stairs, Severus was surprised that Hadrian had not stirred, nothing more than his fingers clutching at Severus' shirt, which made donning a robe difficult.

A flick of his wand and the moss-green robe held itself ready, Severus slid one arm through the appropriate hole and switched his hold on Hadrian to slip his other arm into it's sleeve. A warming charm on Hadrian's blanket and he was as ready as he was ever going to be.

A deep breath and Severus stepped out onto the pavers at his back door, a few steps and he was standing on the single cracked paver, which was the only place a witch or wizard could apparate to or from around Severus' home. A crack of sound and that twisting feeling and Severus was standing at the apparition point, just inside Diagon Alley.

He quickly checked Hadrian, but the boy was still sound asleep, the movement of his blanket causing him to push his face into Severus' shoulder.

"Sh, sh, Hadrian, sh." Severus whispered. "Papa's got you."

No one gave them a glance as Severus made his down the sparsely crowded alley towards Gringotts and the double bayed windows of the Owl Postal Service. Pushing the door open, he stepped into the small shop.

"Evening, sir. Owl can we help you?" The attendant asked.

"I need to send a letter." Severus ignored the attendant's snort.

"And you don't want to send your own owl, for any number of reasons, I'm sure." The attendant smirked.

"No. Just that, at present we have no owl." Severus informed the young wizard.

"Oh… my apologies. At this hour of the night, most people are sending owls to… particular friends." The wizard backtracked quickly.

"Not a concern, Mr Ackerly, I merely wish to invite my grandfather to meet his great-grandson." Severus replied automatically, before pausing. "Ackerly? Spencer Ackerly?" He frowned. "Really? Given the way you were always following Professor Sprout around, I assumed you would end up working in the herbology field."

"Severus Snape?" Spencer Ackerly gaped. "Well, given how you were always asking Professor Slughorn questions, I assumed you would be working in potions. I didn't know you married." The startled young man replied.

"I didn't. Gringotts facilitated a private adoption for me, it was finalised, just an hour ago." Severus swapped the hand holding Hadrian's little body on his shoulder and held out the letter with his left hand, the sleeve pushed back to the elbow. Spencer's eyes flicked from the hand to the forearm and back, but he said nothing, nor gave any indication of taking any notice of the bare skin.

Spencer accepted the letter and stamped it.

"Oh… well, congratulations, dad. And the letter will cost δ3." Spencer smiled.

A soft little voice sounded.

"Papa?" Severus looked down and saw that Hadrian's eyes were blinking tiredly.

"Hush, now, Hadrian. Sleep, Papa's got you." Severus whispered, rubbing the boy's back softly.

"Papa…" The little voice trailed off, as Hadrian yawned and tucked his head back into Severus' neck.

Spencer waited until the boy settled, taking the coins that Severus handed him and wrote out a receipt.

"You're good with him." Was all Spencer said.

"I do my best. It helps that he likes me, he was reaching for me the same minute we met."

"That's a good thing. Snape…? Can I ask… what happened to his parents?"

"His birth father was the Head of an old Family, but there was… contention around Hadrian's birth. Today, when Gringotts performed Identity and Inheritance Testing on Hadrian within minutes of my Blood Adopting him, he had been repudiated by both this Maternal and Paternal Families."

Spencer gasped, his eyes wide.

"Both? _**Both**_ families repudiated him? But he's a child. A _**baby**_. How could they?"

"I will grant this, the spokesman for the Families insisted on waiting until the Blood Adoption was complete and even suggested an Adoption booster after the repudiations. He believes that this was the best action, for Hadrian's future."

"Removing Ancestral Magics is _**best**_ for his future? Are they _**joking**_?" Spencer spluttered.

"No. Hence my writing to my grandfather. I am hoping that he may recognise Hadrian as his blood family. Giving-"

"Giving him Ancestral Magics." Spencer nodded, offering the receipt to Severus. "That's not a bad option."

"It's all I have available to me, so I hope that it works." Severus sighed.

"I'll offer a prayer to Lady Magic for success, Snape."

"Thank you, Ackerly…" He paused, not sure if this was a wise move, or not. "Ackerly, are you still interested in herbology?"

"Oh, yes. I've a few applications in for an apprenticeship, but it's the wrong time of year and no one seems very interested in a Hogwarts Graduate, right now." The young man sighed.

"Hmm… I may know someone. He would want to assess you, himself, though."

Spencer blinked.

"Really?" His eyes flicked quickly to Severus' arm and he bit his lip in indecision.

"I guarantee nothing, but… with your permission, I will pass your name and interest to him. It's up to him. Master Gibbon is a good and fair man, he will not push you to do more than you are capable of."

"Thank you, Severus. I would appreciate that." Spencer smiled at the other wizard.

"You are welcome. Now, I'd best take this little one home, how long he will sleep for is anyone's guess." Severus nodded and stepped back to the door. "Good evening… Spencer." He pulled the door closed behind him and strode back up the Alley.

Morning came and a scared child woke Severus.

"Papa! Papa!" Hadrian cried. "Me wants Papa!"

"I'm coming, Hadrian." Severus called, levering himself out of his bed, he stumbled over the mat at the foot of his bed, but stayed upright. He was across the hall and into the room he'd decided was Hadrian's, without hesitating, reacting without thought.

"Papa!" The tears stopped the instant Hadrian saw Severus.

"Hadrian. Did you wake alone, sweet boy?" Severus plucked the boy out of the cradle, holding him close.

"Uh huh. Me's want Papa." Hadrian smiled, patting Severus on the chest and laying his head on a broad shoulder.

"Alright, then, young man. Let's get you clean and dressed, ready for the day." Severus gently peeled the boy out of his pyjamas, noting the transfigured fabric was already breaking down, he'd stretched it too far. "We'll have to go shopping for you today, sweet boy, you need your own clothes." When the boy was clean, Severus took him into the master bedroom, sitting Hadrian on the bed while he rifled around in his cupboards, looking for clothes that could be shrunk and altered to fit a tiny individual. That done, he dressed both himself and Hadrian and headed downstairs.

In the kitchen, Severus transfigured a chair into a highchair and placed a chattering Hadrian in it. He turned to the stove and quickly put together the makings of porridge, dishing up a small bowl and sprinkling some finely diced dried fruit over it, he set it down in front of Hadrian. He sat and watched as Hadrian attempted to spoon the meal into his mouth.

"Do you want some help, there, Hadrian?" Taking the spoon from into fingers.

"Papa." Hadrian laughed, opening his mouth wide.

Severus fed the boy porridge until the bowl was empty.

"A piece of apple, Hadrian?"

"Nummy, appl'." The boy nodded before pausing, his eyes open wide. "Papa? Who dat?" Hadrian pointed over Severus' shoulder.

Severus was up and out of his seat, his wand drawn, stepping between Hadrian and whoever the intruder was. A heartbeat to see and recognise and Severus' shoulders slumped in relief.

"Oh, thank Merlin. It's only you." He said.

"Yes. Who were you expecting?" The newcomer said.

"I wasn't, at least not yet. hence my reaction."

"Papa?" Hadrian's voice was scared, now, whimpering.

Severus turned from the newcomer and lifted Hadrian from his seat, hushing and comforting the little boy. Balancing him on one hip he turned to the stove, he measured leaves into a teapot, poured water, at the right temperature, over them, setting the teapot on the table, he reached up into the cupboard and pulled out a pair of fine china tea cups down. Rinsing them with warm water, followed by a quick drying charm, he placed them on the table, pulled sugar and cream from the cold cupboard and both joined the teapot on the table.

"This is what you wanted to talk to me about? Your bastard child?" The older man asked.

"No. What I wished to talk to you about is the son I Blood Adopted yesterday." Severus stated.

"Adopted? Blood Adopted? Why in the name of Hades would you do that?"

"Let me put him down to play and I'll explain." Severus requested.

"Very well."

Severus gave Hadrian a bowl of sliced apple and a few segments of orange.

"Let's go into the other room. I've put up some childproof shielding on the shelves and the fireplace." Severus said, waving his wand so the teapot, sugar, cream and cups floated after them.

He lowered Hadrian to the floor and sat him on a large mat. Another wave of his wand and a few pieces of firewood were transformed, some into blocks and some into farmyard animals that Severus charmed to act like the living creature.

"You play with them for a bit, while Papa talks to Mr Prince, alright, Hadrian?" He ran his fingers through the boy's hair, before he waved Colbert Prince to a seat.

"Tea?" He asked, tapping his wand against a knot of wood on the fireplace surround, activating strong privacy shields around the room.

"Yes, please." Was the reply. "Tea and answers. Why would you adopt a child?"

Severus twitched his wand and put up a weak silencing shield, Hadrian would still hear them, but it would be muffled and soft, but more importantly, Severus would still be able to hear Hadrian.

"Yesterday morning Lucius Malfoy fire-called me." Severus began.

"You're still supporting that madman, then?" Colbert sneered.

"Please allow me to finish." When Colbert sighed and nodded, Severus continued. "A Seer had brought-"

"Another prophecy?" Colbert scoffed.

"No, not a prophecy. Vision. And she wasn't pleased to have inherited the gift, either. She said, quite clearly I might add, that she had used a pensieve to watch the memories of the vision. Not once, but 14 times, trying to find a reason to _**not**_ involve Lucius. She did not find that reason. Shortly after midday he told me to enter the pensieve. I did. It was… not pleasant. If the Dark wins this war, they will bring about our downfall by targeting muggles. Muggles will fight back with weapon that can destroy all of Diagon Alley in seconds." Colbert inhaled sharply. "But if the Light wins, muggles will be introduced into our world and eventually magic will be spread too far, no one have a core magically strong enough to cast the simplest of spells."

Alarm shone on Colbert's face.

"What can be done?"

"We are doing it, now. The vision showed us the outcomes of various different actions. The only one that allowed the continuation of Magic beyond the next 15-20 years, was creating a third party in this war. Hadrian's faction."

"Hadrian? Him?" Colbert pointed the small boy playing with a toy hippogriff.

"Him. He was born Harrold Evans Potter." Colbert nearly choked on his tea. "That's right. That child is, or was, Harry Potter. Dumbledore had placed him Lily Potter's muggle sister. I knew her when they lived on Benson Grove, she was and still is, a particularly nasty individual. The vision told of injuries that she and her husband inflicted on the boy, simply because he was her sister's child and she did not wish to be reminded of the fact that her sister had something she did not. Magic."

"They hurt him?"

"Yes. But there's more. Let me start at the beginning. Dumbledore heard a prophecy, _**I**_ doubt the validity, but he does not. I was at that point trying to be a true follower of Voldemort, desperate for a place to belong. I was present that day, when Trelawney spoke the prophecy. I went to the Dark Lord and told him. Some weeks later I was told to bring Peter Pettigrew to the Lord's manor. It was during that interview that I discovered that the prophecy applied to Lily Potter… and her family. I begged Voldemort to spare her, but he gave not reply. I went to Dumbledore and begged him to hide her, to protect her. At that point I cared not what happened to Potter or his child, I had forgotten that the child was also hers. But it was to no avail, she was dead, as was Potter and Voldemort. I retreated into myself. Distanced myself from Voldemort's supporters, from Dumbledore, from the world in general."

"Until the vision?" Colbert asked.

"Until Lucius called about a vision. It took nearly three hours for me to watch the complete vision. After I emerged, Lucius, Xander and I knew that the only chance for the future was to take action ourselves. We split that into two sections. I have one, Hadrian. Lucius and Xander are dealing with the other."

"Can you trust them to do that?"

"It was Lucius' suggestion and he knows the ramifications of failure. He and Xander Gibbon will not fail."

"What are they doing?"

"I don't know."

"What?" Colbert asked confusedly.

"I don't know and there is no way I plan to find out. Hadrian and I are safer if I don't know." Severus said.

"How do you figure that?"

"Dumbledore. He knows I'm almost finished my apprenticeship. Every time I see him, he reminds me that Slughorn wants to retire, and Dumbledore wants me to take his place. He obviously believes that I will bend to his will. I will not. But I wouldn't put it past him to use legilimency or veritaserum on me and at this point, I _**know**_ I'm not strong enough to resist."

"You can't tell what you don't know." Colbert nods.

"Precisely."

"So what do you plan to tell Dumbledore about the boy?"

"I will tell him the truth… just not all of the truth."

"I see… please continue."

"After watching the vision, Lucius sent me to fetch Xander Gibbon and for the two of us to meet him at Gringotts. We did this and once again watched the vision. The goblins were incensed, it took minutes to calm them. The Director himself, assisted us, in total only two goblins and the three of us wizards knew who the boy was. The goblins created a golem, tied to Harry Potter's Paternal Magic. They swapped it for him and brought him to Gringotts." Severus paused. "Just a moment."

He got to his feet and fetched in a small metal cup with a broad base, he filled it half-full with water and offered it to Hadrian. The little boy smiled brightly and held the cup with two hands and slurped at the water.

"Once the boy was in Gringotts, our plans became actions." He continued after sitting back down. "Firstly we decided to regress him. we felt that de-aging him was the quickest and least painful way to heal his injuries. Knowing that the… event happened six weeks ago, we decided to go further, we de-aged him ten weeks. We wanted to make sure that he would be healthy. Then Director Knifesplitter and another goblin did what they called Ancestral Purges, Maternal and Paternal."

"Ancestral _**whats?"**_

"Purges. A Purge is like it sounds. It removes all trace of the Family Bloodline from the child. Having the child purged, meant that there is no way Dumbledore can gain control of the child's life. The next thing we did was increase the boy's age, not all of it, though. Knifesplitter said that the re-aging potion contained a setting agent that would register a new date of birth. I decided that he should be a little younger, only a few weeks, but that will be enough that Dumbledore won't look harder."

He poured a fresh cup of tea and sipped at it.

"Then we needed to add Family Magics, but we wanted a family that Dumbledore wouldn't be concerned about having a child removed from. We also wanted there to be a reason for removing the child. So we decided, Lucius, Xander, Knifesplitter and myself, that we would add Bellatrix Lestrange as mother and Rabastan Lestrange as father."

"Isn't Bellatrix married to his brother?"

"Yes, Rudolphus. There was a fierce jealously between the brothers over who got to marry her, but it's pointless, Bellatrix only has eyes for Voldemort, anyone else has no chance of gaining her affections, not even her own husband."

"And you took that into account."

"Indeed. The reason for removing the child is simple, all three Lestranges are in Azkaban. Who would raise Bellatrix's child? Narcissa Malfoy. But any such child would be targeted by those that had suffered at the Lestranges' hands. It would never be free of the taint of the Lestrange family. The next thing we did was a Blood Adoption, with myself as parent."

"Ah… I wondered where that came in."

"A Blood adoption would give me the right to raise him, as the Lestranges' were unable to. But then? Lucius is the closest Head of House, technically as he is married to Narcissa and the Ancestral Adoptions made her the boy's blood aunt and is Lucius the Head of her Family. He ordered an Ancestral Repudiation for the Paternal Ancestries."

"Oh my." Colbert whispered.

"Followed by an Ancestral Repudiation for the Maternal Ancestries."

"Oh sweet Nimue."

"At that point a Blood Adoption booster was given and Identity tests done." Severus paused and handed both pieces of parchment to Colbert. "Then a Curse-breaker and a healer checked him over and both assessments declared that he was uninjured and bore no external magics."

"Is that when you brought him home?"

"No, not yet. First the Curse-breaker set to work on my arm and removed Voldemort's Darkmark." Severus pulled his sleeve up and showed a bare forearm.

"I see."

"Then I brought him home, feed and bathed him, put him to bed and sat down to write to you, but I didn't know what to say. So… I simply said what I hoped would catch your attention."

"And you have. What are your plans, now?"

"Xander raised an interesting point. My… father is a muggle. My mother was a witch."

"Is she still alive?" Colbert asked.

"No, she died a few months ago. I returned from my Hogwarts graduation to find them packed and ready to leave. He was in a car waiting, while she stood in this room. She told me then that she was ill, Tobias was taking her to live the last of her days in the sun, she gave me two Gringotts' keys, one for her vault and one for a vault she had setup in my name. The last thing she did before walking out the door was to give me her wand. St Mungo's had told her that her illness would only increase with the use of magic. He turned up here, in August, just knocked on the door. When I opened it, he handed me a box. Said she wanted her ashes to go home. Then he turned and walked away."

"I never understood what she saw in him."

"Neither do I." Severus agreed.

"What was the point Xander mentioned?"

"Tobias is a muggle, you disowned mother when she married him."

"I did." Colbert nodded.

"Gringotts can facilitate Ancestral Purges. If I were to Purge the Snape lineage… would you accept us back into the Prince Family?" Severus stated bluntly.

Colbert blinked.

"I…" he paused and hummed quietly, in thought, for a few minutes.

"If you and your son… Purge yourselves of the Snape bloodline, of all the things that make one a Snape… I will welcome you into the Prince family. I am old Severus, wizards may live for more than a century, but the damage done to my core during the war with Grindelwald, means that I may live only another 10 or 15 years. I will be lucky to see my century. As it stands right now, I have no heir, no one to carry on the Family name. Purge Tobias Snape from your body and your core… and I will name you my heir, as you would have been if your mother had of chosen anyone but Snape."

"Would you like to meet your great-grandson?" Severus dropped the silencing shield.

"I would, very much."

"Hadrian?" Severus called quietly.

The little boy looked up from his toys.

"Papa?" He asked.

"Come here, sweet boy, I have someone for you to meet."

"Papa." The boy climbed to his slightly unsteady feet and toddled over to Severus, lifting his arms and asked to be picked up.

Severus lifted Hadrian onto his lap and the boy leaned back against his father's chest.

"This is your Grandfather.

"Papa?" Hadrian didn't understand

"Grandpa." Colbert corrected.

Hadrian's face lit up and he smiled brightly.

"G'ampa!" He squealed, reaching for the older man.

Four year old Hadrian ran down the hall from the back and into the front room, only to come to a skidding halt.

"Papa!" He screamed, turning to run, but his feet tripped on the mat and falling on his side.

"Oh." The old man who'd been waiting gasped.

"Hadrian!" Came a man's voice.

"Papa!"

A man in a deep green robe burst through the door, grabbing Hadrian up, swinging him onto his back and spinning to face the old man, his wand pointing at the intruder a snarl on his face.

"_**Severus!"**_

Severus froze, one hand holding his son to his back the other not wavering from the old man's face.

"Severus! What are you doing?" Dumbledore's voice showed his surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Severus snarled. "How did you get in?"

"I let myself in." Dumbledore said. "I needed to speak to you, you've been ignoring my letters."

"Well, of course I have."

"What? Why?"

"All you've done is nag at me to take a position I have no intention of taking."

"I need a potions master, Severus."

"Fine, you need a potions master, it's not going to be me." Severus was firm on that.

"Why not?" Dumbledore didn't understand.

"One? I have no interest in teaching dunderheads that don't want to learn. Two? I would have to live in the castle, that's not going to happen. Three? I have a business to run."

"Students are students, Severus, they deserve to learn from the best. And why will you not live in the castle? I wasn't aware that you had opened a business. Why wasn't I told?"

"Why would I tell you? We've not spoken since I begged you to protect Lily and her son. Which you failed to do. Not once, but twice."

"I'm sorry, my boy, I tried-"

"You sent a magical child to live with muggles that hate magic." Severus retorted, his voice harsh enough that Hadrian buried his head into Severus' back. "And now he's dead. You placed him there and now he's dead."

Dumbledore sighed.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Papa? Tan I det down? Pwease?" A little voice asked.

Severus sighed and flipped Hadrian around and under his arm, until the boy was in front of him, letting him slide to the ground.

"Tan I pway up'tairs, Papa?"

"Of course you can, my sweet boy. Take your robes with you and leave them in the bathroom, please."

"Yes, Papa." The boy replied.

"He calls you 'father'?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course, he does, he's my son."

"I wasn't aware you have married, Severus." Dumbledore chided, gently.

Severus waited until he heard Hadrian reach the top of the stairs.

"I didn't. You know full well that Lily was the only woman I've ever loved."

"Then how…?"

"I adopted him, of course."

"Adopted? I… When?"

"A few days before you let Lily's son die."

"Severus, I-"

"You were responsible, you placed with magic-hating muggles. The Prophet said his injuries were horrendous. You may as well have signed his death warrant. And you expect me to trust you with my life and that of my son? _**Never!"**_ He swore.

Dumbledore hastily reassessed what he'd been about to say.

"You said you adopted him? What happened to his parents? Who are they?"

"Were." He sighed, removing his outer robes and rolling his sleeves up. "Sit down, Headmaster. Six weeks after Voldemort killed the Potters and was in turn killed by-"

"He's not dead, Severus. I told you this, we need-"

"Headmaster. Enough. Do you want to know how I came to adopt Hadrian or not?" Severus cut the old man off.

Dumbledore blinked, Severus' arm was bare, he sighed, his plan of having Severus work and spy for him was fading, fast.

"Thank you. Six weeks after the… incident, Lucius floo-called me, he said that Bellatrix, Rudolphus and Rabastan were sent to Azkaban."

"They were."

"He asked Xander and I to help him sort through their house and called in a Gringotts Curs-breaker to destroy whatever dark artefacts we might find. What we found… sickened us. A child, little more than a year old, locked in a closet. He'd been beaten, starved and had his magic bound."

"A child? They stole a child?" Dumbledore gasped.

"No. Gringotts tested him. he was Bellatrix's son."

"Bellatrix and Rudolphus had a son?"

"No, he is not Rudolphus' child."

Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise.

"Then, who's…? Surely not Voldemort's?"  
"No, Rabastan is his father, according to Gringotts."

"Oh my."

"Dumbledore, there is something you must understand. Bellatrix only married Rudolphus because Lord Black insisted and Voldemort agreed. She had no liking for Rudolphus or Rabastan, none at all. Lucius and Xander think that may be why the boy was so badly beaten. Rudolphus because he was Rabastan's child and Bellatrix because he wasn't Voldemort's child."

"Sweet Merlin." Dumbledore whispered.

"Gringotts provided a healer and a Curse-breaker to tend to him. Lucius, Xander and I were appalled that someone could treat a child like that and we decided that with Bellatrix, Rudolphus and Rabastan, all in Azkaban, someone would have to raise the boy. When he woke, I was the only person he would let touch him, so we discussed it and Lucius, with the consent of Gringotts, declared that he was the closest Head of House, he would take legal responsibility for the boy."

"Oh dear."

"He then offered me permission to adopt the boy. At that time the child had no name. I insisted on a Blood Adoption and Lucius agreed. Gringotts provided the potions and supervised the process. Immediately afterwards, Lucius speaking as Legal Representative for the boy, declared a Paternal Repudiation."

"A _**what?!"**_

"A Paternal Repudiation. It's a more involved version of a disownment. A disownment removes a wizard from the Family Line, prohibits them from accessing the Family Magics. A Repudiation goes further, it strips the wizard of the Ancestral Magics that fill their core."

Dumbledore's jaw fell.

"Malfoy repudiated the boy? Why?"

"Protection. Repudiating the boy's Paternal Magics removed almost all traces of the Lestrange Magics, leaving him a Black."

"That would make Arcturus his Head of House." Dumbledore stated.

"Yes, but Arcturus is in America and has been for nearly a decade. So, Lucius was still the closest Head of House, being the husband of his maternal aunt. Then Lucius ordered a Maternal Repudiation."

Dumbledore gasped in horror.

"He… Why?"

"Think about it. The son of Bellatrix Lestrange? He would never be safe. With both Maternal and Paternal Repudiations, only the Blood Adopted Magics were present. The boy was now more my son than theirs. I wrote to my grandfather-"

"Oh, my boy."

"-and told him what had happened."

"I'm so sorry."

"Why? He came here and met Hadrian. When I told him what Lucius had done to give me a son, grandfather offered to welcome us into the Prince Family, but only if I was prepared to do a Snape Paternal Repudiation for both myself and my son."

"Severus…"

"It was an easy decision. Tobias Snape was a violent and abusive man, at least to me. Giving away whatever I had received from him was an easy thing to do. Grandfather then ordered both myself and Hadrian an Ancestral Adoption, making us truly sons of the House of Prince."

"Oh my."

"Indeed."

"What will you do, now?" All thoughts of having Severus as potions master and spy were gone.

"Now I will raise my son, run the business I share with Spencer Ackerly and our master Alexander Gibbon. I will do whatever I have to, to keep Hadrian safe, safe from retaliation over who his parents were, safe from Voldemort's supporters who do not approve of Lucius, Xander and myself leaving their august company."

"How did…?"

"That I am aware of, only the three of us took the mark reluctantly and the theory is that when he… died, the link was broken. It lasted minutes before it was gone."

"Do you really think he is dead?" Dumbledore asked. Maybe his research was wrong.

"I don't know, Headmaster. If he does return, I will do what I need to, to protect my son, but that will not be teaching at Hogwarts. I do not have the disposition for teaching, even working with Spencer, I find it irritating and I quite like the boy, I have no doubt that any students forced to learn under me would very quickly come to hate me as much as I disliked having to teach them."

Dumbledore hummed in thought.

"Would you be willing to provide one-on-one training with a very gifted student or two?"

"Not at Hogwarts. The potions facilities there are disgusting. I might… be convinced to accept a single student that would attend my laboratory. If my colleagues agree."

"I'll asked, my boy."

"No. I will ask them. There may be other things to consider, things that do not concern you, Headmaster."

"I see." And Dumbledore did see. His actions, or inactions, had cost him greatly. Gone was the meek boy that sought a place to belong, a boy he could manipulate. No, this was a man that was sure in his place, his business and in his Family. A man that would not tolerate interference in his life. Such a pity.

"In that case, Severus, I shall leave you in peace." He knocked a copy of that day's prophet from the end table to the floor between them.

"Black?" Severus picked up the paper and studied it. "Black freed? Innocent? Really?" He drawled. He remembered Black from the Seer's vision, he was innocent of the crimes he'd been accused, but not convicted. It seemed that grandfather had been successful in his latest venture.

"What?!" Dumbledore cried.

Severus handed the old wizard the paper, the front page almost screaming the headline, 'Black Innocent'. Dumbledore studied the page, reading the entire story before sighing and handing it back.

"Thank you Severus." All his plans scuttled. Harry Potter dead. Severus Snape, unmarked and a father. Black free of Azkaban. How could the day get worse?

"Well… I suppose I'd best send him a reminder…" Severus mused.

"A reminder?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, Headmaster. When we left Hogwarts, I stated that I intended to complete my Mastery in Potions, Black, Potter and Lupin, were unconvinced that I was capable of achieving this prior to reaching 35, I however, stated that I would complete my Mastery before reaching 25. A wager was entered, I offered two phials of Felix Felicis, Black put forward casting a Fidelius at a place of the winner's choice, Lupin knew of my obsession and offered two phials of his own blood."

"And James?"

"He just laughed, but at Lily's urging offered his notes of achieving his Animagus transformation."

"Lily?"

"Lily was our holder. She did not enter the wagering, she knew of my plans to study under Master Gibbon."

"Ah…"

"I wonder… The prophet says that Black is staying in an undisclosed medical facility. I dare say the easiest way to contact him will be via Lupin."

"Perhaps not the best thing, Severus."

"Why? Both men will require potions and I am in a position to provide them, plus both men know of my… connection to Lily Potter."

"That is true."

"I shall send an owl this afternoon, as soon as we finish here."

"Finish, Severus?"

"Yes, Hadrian and I are only here to select a few personal items, we will be staying with grandfather for a few days, while Gringotts packs our possessions and moves them to our new home in Ayrshire."

"Ayrshire, you're leaving Spinner's End?"

"Yes, it's no place to raise an energetic child and Hadrian is hardly ever still. The goblins are going to remove our possessions and all traces of magic from the property before the new muggle owners take over."

"Ah. I see. Would that be why you were concerned that I'd let myself in?"

"Partially. The other being Hadrian."

"Of course, of course. I shall pass your intentions along to the Order, to ensure no one inadvertently disturbs the muggles."

"Thank you Headmaster. Now, if you will excuse me, my son has been a bit too quiet for a bit too long. Good day."

Severus ushered Dumbledore to the back door and after watching the man apparate out, closed, locked and shielded the door. He had a letter to write and a son to find, not necessarily in that order.

Remus Lupin looked at the envelope a second time. Who was Severus Prince and why was he writing to Remus?

_Lupin (and Black),_

_Not knowing where Black is recuperating from his unwarranted incarceration, I felt that you, Lupin, were the best option for communication. _

_You both owe me, Black for sending me through the Womping Willow and Lupin for almost biting me. I'm calling in those debts. Do not tell Dumbledore that we are in communication. He was the one to cast the Potters' Fidelius charm, he knew Pettigrew was the secret keeper, but it was not Dumbledore that saw to Black's release, but rather, my grandfather and I. I request a meeting with the two of you to disclose my evidence and discuss the matter further._

_This letter is a portkey and will activate with the formal name of the issue that took you to the shack, any time during daylight is fine, at night I request a 30 minute warning. I offer accommodation, medical treatment and even entertainment for us all._

_Severus Prince (formerly Snape) MoP,_

What the hell?

Remus read the letter three times before he decided that he had no idea what was going on. He placed the letter in his pocket and made his way to the rehab hospice, where Sirius was staying. Nodding to the guard he entered the building and after speaking with the staff, he was tapping on Sirius' door, he entered and sat down beside the raven-haired wizard.

"Remus…" Sirius whispered.

"Hey Pads, ready to get out of here?"

"Hell yes. What's the day like?"

"Bright, fine and cold." His voice was distracted and he knew that Sirius would pick up on it sooner or later. So, he felt it best to get the subject out in the open. "Pads?"

"Rem?"

"I got a letter today."

"Nice."

"It's from Severus."

"What does Snivelles Snape want?"

Remus handed Sirius the letter and watched as Sirius read the short message. Like Remus he re-read and re-read it.

"What the…?"

"That was my reaction, too." Remus sighed.

"Evidence? What sort of evidence, Remus?" Sirius' voice was rusty and cracked.

"I don't know. But… Accommodation? Treatment? Entertainment? Prince? Sirius, I'm beginning to wonder… This does not like the Severus Snape we knew at Hogwarts."

Sirius tilted his head and thought.

"Maybe we should meet with him." Sirius said.

"I think… we should." Remus hesitated. "I have no problem sharing my place, but it's not really suitable for your recovery, Pads."

"Alright let's go see, this person who used to be Severus Snape. Grab a bag would you?" Sirius grasped a bag. "Do I need to wait or can we just go?"

"I need to tell the healers that we're portkey-ing out and then we're good to go. Back in two." Remus headed out the door to find a healer.

Ten minutes later the portkey plopped them down in a lush wildflower garden in front of a two-story home built from a pale grey stone, with a slate tile roof. At one end of the walled garden was a large green house, at the other end a tree with a swing underneath a branch and a tree house nestled in the upper branches.

"What the…? Where are we?" Remus asked.

"Papa!" A young child's voice cried. "Dey's here, Papa!"

"Papa?" Sirius raised an eyebrow in Remus' direction.

"No idea." The werewolf answered.

"Coming, Hadrian." A man's voice answered the child.

Moments later, a tall man rounded the corner of the building.

"Black, Lupin."

"Snape." Sirius bit back a sharper reply, there was something very different about this man, from the boy he knew. What was it?

"Not anymore. Prince, now. My grandfather welcomed my son and I into the family, after we purged the Snape magics. Welcome to Onyx House. Come on, inside. It's time Hadrian was put down for a sleep."

"But Papa, I wants to pway in da sand." A small child ran out from under a bush and was snatched up by Severus.

"After a nap, my little one."

A pouting face was tucked into Severus' shoulder when he saw that he wasn't go to get out of a nap.

"Come on in." Severus lead them into a large brightly lit kitchen. "Have a seat, I'll be just a minute. Give the stew a stir, Lupin, don't let it burn before I get back."

Severus disappeared through a door and the two wizards heard footsteps on stairs. Severus' voice wafted down to them, the little boy's voice joining him for a few moments, before footsteps were heard returning.

"Thank you for coming. I wasn't sure if you would or not." Severus said as he re-entered the kitchen.

"You asked us to come, you sent a portkey. Why?" Sirius asked.

"How's your health, Black, really? I want the two of you to watch something, but it will take about three hours. Are you physically capable of that?" Severus asked in a sombre tone.

Both men froze at the questions and gave them due consideration.

"Right now, three hours would be pushing the limit. I could do it but, it would probably put my recovery back a week or so." Sirius stated in a, well, serious voice.

"In that case, no, I'd rather not risk it. Lupin, if you'll watch it now, you can tell Black what's in it. And when he's a bit more recovered, he can watch it, then. Black? Will you take lupin's word that what he tells you is what he watched?"

"Yes." Sirius nodded.

"Alright, this way, I've rooms for you both or you can share, whichever you prefer." Severus lead the two men from the kitchen and down a hall, passed a set of stair and into what was clearly an addition to the main house. "Two double rooms, that share a bathroom. Use one or both, that's up to you. When you're ready, I'll be in the study next to the stairs." He nodded and left the wizards to sort themselves out.

Barely five minutes later the two entered the study.

"Sna- no, you said, you're not Snape any longer? What do we call you, now?" Sirius asked, plopping himself down on a two-seater sofa opposite Severus.

"My name is Severus Colbert Prince, now. The boy upstairs is my son, Hadrian Ridley Prince. I'd prefer that we get past the need for surnames, I'm Severus, or if you must Sev."

"Severus, then. At least for now." Sirius replied.

"Fair enough." Severus nodded.

"You mentioned something you wanted us to watch?" Remus reminded.

"I did. Lu… Remus, there's a pensieve in that draw there, pull it out. I suggest sitting down first, like I said, it'll take about three hours."

"Then I'd best get started. You two try not to kill each other before I get out. Please?" Remus gave Sirius a pleading look.

"I'll behave, until you get back."

For the next three hours, Sirius caught up with the Daily Prophet's news and for the first hour, Severus made notes in a book, then went to tend to his son.

Remus staggered as he fell from the pensieve, two steps and he collapsed into the sofa beside Sirius.

"Severus? You did that? All of it?" Remus asked, his face pale and his voice shaky.

"Yes."

"Remus?"

"Dumbledore gave Harry to Lily's muggle sister." He began.

"But she hates Lily… and magic."

"Yes, she does, both. That was a vision by a Seer, who's name I shall not mention, other than to saw she wasn't happy at having a vision." Severus said.

"If that was what she saw, I can sympathise. That was horrid." Remus agreed.

"Remus?" Sirius asked again.

"The vision showed what would happen if the Light won the war. Then it showed the Dark winning. Both times magic was gone within years. Then there was variations, if this was changed, this happened. If that changed this happened. The only change that let magic survive? Was… the goblins took Harry from Lily's sister, in the middle of the night. They de-aged him, healing the injuries Lily's sister caused, then removed James and Lily's magics from him before re-aging part the way. Added in magics from another couple, then Severus Blood Adopted him, then they removed the new adopted parents magic and Severus became his father."

Sirius looked at Remus, his eyes just blinking. It took him almost a full minute to process what Remus had just said.

"Dumbledore put my godson in a home where he would get abused and he knew it?"

"Yes." Severus said.

"You took him away from them?"

"Yes."

"You Blood Adopted him?"

"Yes."

"You changed his age?"

"Yes."

"You changed his name?"

"Yes."

"Do you care about him?"

"Yes." Severus said. "He is my son and I love him, dearly."

"Will you raise him as Lily would have wanted?"

"Yes."

"Will you let us, Remus and I, be a part in his life?"

"Yes."

"Will you keep him safe, from Dumbledore, from Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"Are you still a Death-Eater?"

Severus rolled up his sleeves and showed a bare arm.

"How the hell…?" Sirius frowned.

"Firstly, please, no swearing, particularly where Hadrian can hear you. Secondly, I took the mark reluctantly, myself, Lucius Malfoy and Xander Gibbon never really wanted to be a part of Voldemort's great plan. All I wanted was a place to belong, where people would accept me for who I am, not what I can do for them."

"Malfoy?"

"Oh, don't be so surprised. It was Lucius and my grandfather that got you out of Azkaban. They called a closed, surprise, session of the Wizengamot and demanded that you have a trial. Bagnold was not pleased, neither was Crouch, when it came out that they'd denied you a trial. Finding that Dumbledore knew you were innocent but left you there? No, the Wizengamot aren't very happy."

"Oh, god."

"Yes, that sentiment says it all."

"Does Harr-Hadrian know who is-was?" Remus asked.

"No. And I don't plan on telling him, he doesn't need to be burdened with that."

"No. What about us?" Sirius waved between he and Remus.

"I had planned to just say, that we went to school together. And that I'm providing potions to help in you healing."

"That's true… at least the school, bit."

"Also, Sirius is a cousin… or was. Both for Harry Potter and for the other couple." Remus added.

"What? Who? Who were the other couple?"

"We felt we needed a couple that even Dumbledore wouldn't question us removing a child from their family."

"Who?" Sirius growled.

"Bellatrix and Rabastan."

"Bella and her… hang on, Bella's husband is Rudolphus, not Rabastan."

"Exactly… That was what we planned."

"But…" Sirius trailed off and was silent for a few minutes. "It makes sense. They're all in Azkaban and there's no one to raise their son. But he'd be in danger from retaliation, Dumbledore would approve you taking the boy, raising him right."

"Dumbledore's not really happy with me, today."

"Why not?"

"I refuse to teach for him. I have no Darkmark, so cannot and will not, spy for him. I will not fight for him. I almost turned my wand on him, when he entered my house unannounced. He was not pleased."

"No… I can image he wouldn't be."

"Papa?" Hadrian padded into the room, climbing his father's leg and resting against Severus' chest. "Who dey?"

"These are two people I went to school with, Hadrian. That is Sirius. And this is Remus."

Hadrian's little face scrunched up in thought. His lip was pulled between his teeth.

"Papa?" He asked.

"Yes, Hadrian?"

"Is Siri'us… is 'e Padfoo'?"

All three men looked at the boy in shock.

"You remember Padfoot?" Severus asked.

"Uh huh."

"What about Remmy?" Sirius asked.

"Woofy Wemmy?" Hadrian asked.

Two of the three men laughed.

"Yes, sweet boy. Padfoot and Wolfy Remmy." Severus smiled.

"Yay!" The boy squealed. "Tan I pway with Padfoo'? Pwease Papa?"

"Sirius?" Severus asked. "Want to play with Hadrian?"

"Yes!" Sirius dropped to the floor and shifted into his Animagus form.

"We can hash out the details later, Remus, but I'd like the two of you to hang around. I did imply to Dumbledore earlier that the three of us have had more contact than he's aware of. I mentioned that wager we had going. You owe me two phials of blood, wolf. And when he's more recovered, Sirius can cast a Fidelius on this place, with all three of us as secret keepers."

"Oh lord, I'd forgotten that. But as you say later."

"Yes, later. For now, let's just enjoy the fact that our friend's son is safe, happy and well… And riding Sirius around my study." Severus shook his head, sighing.


End file.
